Compress-forward coding with N-PSK modulation for the half-duplex Gaussian relay channel

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods that implement compress-forward (CF) coding with N-PSK modulation for the relay channel are disclosed, where N is greater than or equal to two. In the CF scheme, Wyner-Ziv coding is applied at the relay to exploit the joint statistics between signals at the relay and the destination. Quantizer design and selection of channel code parameters are discussed. Low-density parity check (LDPC) codes are used for error protection at the source, and nested scalar quantization (NSQ) and irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) codes for Wyner Ziv coding (or more precisely, distributed joint source-channel coding) at the relay. The destination system decodes original message information using (a) a first signal received from the source in a first interval and (b) a second signal that represents a mixture of transmissions from the source and relay in the second interval.

PRIORITY DATA

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/782,367, filed on Mar. 15, 2006, entitled “PracticalCompress-and-Forward Code Design for the Half-Duplex Relay Channel”,invented by Liu, Stankovic and Xiong, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of informationencoding/decoding, and more particularly to systems and methods forimplementing compress-and-forward coding for the relay channel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The relay channel, introduced by van der Meulen (“Three-terminalcommunication channels,” Advanced Applied Probability, vol. 3, pp.120-154, 1971), includes three terminals: the source, the relay and thedestination. The source broadcasts a message to both the relay and thedestination. The relay processes the message it receives from the sourceand forwards the processed signal to the destination, which reconstructsthe original message by decoding the signals received from both thesource and the relay.

According to the observe-forward (OF) strategy of coding for the relaychannel, the relay does not attempt to decode the signal from thesource, but merely forwards a processed version of its received signalto the destination. According to the compress-forward (CF) subcategoryof OF, the relay compresses its received signal and forwards thecompressed version to the destination. Existing CF strategies leave alot to be desired in terms of performance. Thus, there exists a need fornew systems and methodologies for performing CF coding for the relaychannel.

SUMMARY

At a source system, a message is split up into two portions. The twoportions are encoded with two encoders (e.g., LDPC encoders),respectively. The first encoded portion is transmitted in a firstinterval using N-PSK modulation, where N is an integer greater than orequal to two. A relay system and a destination system listen to thistransmission in the first interval. The second encoded portion istransmitted in a second interval using N-PSK modulation. The destinationsystem listens to this transmission in the second interval. The firstand second intervals may be intervals in time or intervals in frequency.

The relay system receives a stream Y_(r) of symbols corresponding thefirst encoded portion in the first interval, perform nested latticequantization (NLQ) on the stream Y_(r) to generate an index block W, andperforms joint source-channel encoding on the index blockWto determineencoded data U_(r). The encoded data is transmitted to the destinationusing N-PSK modulation.

The destination system receives a first stream corresponding to thesource system's transmission in the first interval, and also receives asecond stream corresponding to a mixture of the source system'stransmission in the second interval and the relay system's transmissionin the second interval. The destination system uses the first stream andthe second stream to generate estimates for the message portions. Notethat the first message portion is represented in both the first streamand the second stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description makes reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which are now briefly described.

FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of a source encoder system.

FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of a source encoding method.

FIG. 2A illustrates one embodiment of a relay system.

FIG. 2B illustrates one embodiment of compressing information from asource system and forwarding the compressed information to a destinationsystem.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a destination decoder system.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a method for recovering messageinformation from signals received from a source system and a relaysystem.

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the relay channel with three nodes: thesource, the relay and the destination.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of the relay channel, where the relayis located along the line between the source and the destination.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of the CF coding scheme forhalf-duplex relaying based on WZC (Wyner-Ziv coding).

FIG. 8 shown an example of the conditional distribution of Y_(r) givenparticular values of Y_(d1), with d=9 m.

FIG. 9 illustrates the distributed joint source-channel coding (DJSCC)of binary source X with decoder side information Y using systematic IRAcodes that are designed for both the physical noisy channel and the“virtual” correlation channel between X and Y.

FIG. 10 shows operational distortion-rate curves of SWC-NSQ (assumingideal SWC after NSQ) of Y_(r) with decoder side information Y_(d1) forseveral different nesting ratios N, where each curve is generated byvarying the quantization stepsize q while fixing N. The lower envelopeof these curves is the operational distortion-rate function of SWC-NSQ.The relay is 9 m away from the source, and |c_(sd)|²=0.85|c_(sr)|².

FIG. 11A illustrates the conditional probabilities of different NSQindices given the side information Y_(d1) when the nesting ratio is N=4in the Gaussian relay setup with d=8 m.

FIG. 1B illustrates soft input for iterative decoding of DJSCC as L_(ch)⁽¹⁾(y_(d1)) for the first bit plane. For the second bit plane, since theIRA code rate is approximately 1, there is no need to evaluate theinformation for iterative decoding.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are tables that present the conditional entropy andthe corresponding degree distribution polynomials λ(x) and ρ(x) for eachbit plane of CF for Gaussian relay channels using nested scalarquantization when (A) d=7 m and (B) d=9 m.

While the invention is described herein by way of example for severalembodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art willrecognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments ordrawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings anddetailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention tothe particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes onlyand are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description orthe claims. As used throughout this specification, the word “may” isused in a permissive sense (i.e., in the sense of “having the potentialto”), rather than in the mandatory sense (i.e., in the sense of “must”).Furthermore, the phrase “A includes B” is used to mean “A includes B,but is not limited to B”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Source Encoder System

In one set of embodiments, a source encoder system 100 for encoding amessage m may be configured as suggested in FIG. 1A. The source encodersystem 100 includes an encoder 105, an encoder 110, a mapping unit 112and a modulation unit 115. The message m is a block of binary data. Thesystem elements of the source encoder system 100 may be partitionedamong one or more hardware devices (e.g., integrated circuits) in any ofvarious ways. The one or more hardware devices may include dedicatedcircuitry and/or a set of one or more processors controlled by software(i.e., program instructions).

The encoder 105 is configured to perform channel encoding on a firstportion m₁ of the message m to obtain encoded data U_(s1). The encoder105 may be a low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder, e.g., an LDPCencoder designed as described in the section below entitled “LDPC CodeDesign”. For more information on LDPC codes, please refer to T.Richardson, M. Shokrollahi, and R. Urbanke, “Design of capacityapproaching irregular low-density parity-check codes”, IEEE Trans. Inf.Theory, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 619-637, February 2001, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. The encoder 105 may beconfigured to achieve rate R_(r)(α)/α, where α is a real number betweenzero and one, where R_(r)(α) satisfies the condition given in expression(7). R_(r)(α) represents the rate over the channel from the relay todestination.

The encoder 110 is configured to perform channel encoding on a secondportion m₂ of the message m to obtain encoded data U_(s2). The encoder110 may be a low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder, e.g., an LDPCencoder designed as described below in the section entitled “LDPC CodeDesign”. The encoder 110 may be configured to achieve rateR_(d)(α)/(1−α), where R_(d)(α) represents the transmission rate on thechannel from the source to the destination. R_(d)(α) may be selected tosatisfy expression (7B).

The mapping unit 112 is configured to (1) convert the binary values ofthe encoded data U_(s1) into a stream X_(s1) of points belonging to anN-PSK constellation having power constraint value P_(s1) and (2) convertthe binary values of the encoded data U_(s2) into a stream X_(s2) ofpoints belonging to an N-PSK constellation having power constraint valueP_(s2), where N is an integer greater than or equal to two. For example,in the case of BPSK (i.e., N=2), the encoded data U_(s1) is convertedinto a stream X_(s1) of +A₁ and −A₁ values, where A₁ is the square rootof the power constraint value P_(s1). Similarly, the encoded data U_(s2)is converted into a stream X_(s2) of +A₂ and −A₂ values, where A₂ is thesquare root of the power constraint value P_(s2). In the cases where Nis greater than two, the N-PSK constellation includes complex values,and thus, the mapping unit 112 may include a pair of output lines inorder to output the real and imaginary parts of the complexconstellation point.

The modulation unit 115 is configured to generate a first output signalfor transmission in a first interval based on the stream X_(s1) andgenerate a second output signal for transmission in a second intervalbased on the stream X_(s2). The mapping unit 112 and the modulation unit115 may be configured to implement N-PSK modulation.

In some embodiments, the first interval and second interval are disjointintervals in time. Thus, the modulation unit 115 may be configured to(a) modulate an RF carrier signal using the stream X_(s1) in order togenerate the first output signal in a first time interval and (b)modulate the RF carrier signal using the stream X_(s2) in order togenerate the second output signal in a second time interval. The firstoutput signal may be transmitted in the first time interval and thesecond output signal may be transmitted in the second time interval.

In other embodiments, the first interval and second interval aredisjoint bands of frequency. Thus, the modulation unit 115 may beconfigured to (a) modulate a first RF carrier signal using the streamX_(s1) in order to generate the first output signal in a first frequencyband and (b) modulate a second RF carrier signal using the stream X_(s2)to generate the second output signal in a second frequency band. Thetransmissions of the first output signal and the second output signalmay occur in a time-overlapping fashion (e.g., during the same intervalin time).

Source Encoder Method

In one set of embodiments, a method 150 for encoding a message m mayinvolve a number of actions/operations as illustrated in FIG. 1B.

At 155, channel encoding is performed on a first portion m₁ of themessage m in order to obtain encoded data U_(s1). The channel encodingon the first portion m₁ may be performed using a first encoder having alow-density parity check (LDPC) structure. (The term “encoder” is usedherein in a sense that is broad enough to encompass an encoder realizedin hardware, an encoder realized in software, or an encoder realized asa combination of hardware and software.) The LDPC structure may bedesigned as described in the section below entitled “LDPC Code Design”.The channel encoding may achieve rate R_(r)(α)/α, where α is a realnumber between zero and one.

At 160, channel encoding is performed on a second portion m₂ of themessage m in order to obtain encoded data U_(s2). The channel encodingon the second portion m₂ may be performed using a second encoder havinga low-density parity check (LDPC) structure. The LDPC structure may bedesigned as described in the section below entitled “LDPC Code Design”.The channel encoding may achieve rate R_(d)(α)/(1−α).

At 163, the encoded data U_(s1) is converted into a stream X_(s1) ofpoints belonging to an N-PSK constellation having power constraint valueP_(s1), where N is an integer greater than or equal to two.

At 165, a first output signal is generated, based on the stream X_(s1),for transmission in a first interval. Together, operations 163 and 165implement N-PSK modulation based on the encoded data U_(s1).

At 168, the encoded data U_(s2) is converted into a stream X_(s1) ofpoints belonging to an N-PSK constellation having power constraint valueP_(s2).

At 170, a second output signal is generated, based on the stream X_(s2),for transmission in a second interval. Together, operations 168 and 170implement N-PSK modulation based on the encoded data U_(s2).

In some embodiments, the first interval and second interval are disjointintervals in time. Thus, operation 165 may include modulating an RFcarrier signal using the stream X_(s1) in order to generate the firstoutput signal in a first time interval, and operation 170 may includemodulating the RF carrier signal using the stream X_(s2) in order togenerate the second output signal in a second time interval. The firstoutput signal may be transmitted in the first time interval and thesecond output signal may be transmitted in the second time interval.

In other embodiments, the first interval and second interval aredisjoint bands of frequency. Thus, the operation 165 may includemodulating a first RF carrier signal using the stream X_(s1) in order togenerate the first output signal in a first frequency band, andoperation 170 may include modulating a second RF carrier signal usingthe stream X_(s2) to generate the second output signal in a secondfrequency band. The transmissions of the first output signal and thesecond output signal may occur in a time-overlapping fashion (e.g.,during the same interval in time).

Relay Encoder System

In one set of embodiments, a relay system 200 may be configured assuggested in FIG. 2A. The relay system includes a receiver 210, aquantization unit 215, an encoder unit 220, a mapping unit 223 and amodulation unit 225. The system elements of the relay system may bepartitioned among one or more hardware devices (e.g., integratedcircuits) in any of various ways. The one or more hardware devices mayinclude dedicated circuitry and/or a set of one or more processorscontrolled by software (i.e., program instructions).

The receiver 210 is configured to receive an input signal from a channelin the first interval and recover input data Y_(r) from the inputsignal. The input data Y_(r) corresponds to the stream X_(s1) (of pointsfrom an N-PSK constellation having power constraint value P_(s1))transmitted onto the channel by the source system using N-PSKmodulation, where N is greater than one. The receiver 210 may include anN-PSK demodulator.

The quantization unit 215 is configured to perform nested latticequantization on the input data Y_(r) to generate a block W ofquantization indices. The nested lattice quantization may involvequantization with respect to a coarse lattice and a fine lattice. Thecoarse lattice may be a sublattice of the fine lattice. For moreinformation on how to perform nested lattice quantization, please referto the section below entitled “CF Code Design”.

The Voronoi volume q (also referred to as step size q in the 1-D case)of the fine lattice may be optimized to minimize the Wyner-Zivoperational distortion-rate function subject to a rate constraint.Please refer to the section below entitled “CF Code Design” fordescription of the optimization process.

The nesting ratio (i.e., the ratio of coarse lattice Voronoi volume tofine lattice Voronoi volume) may be determined by the WZC rate(conditional entropy of the quantization index) and the distortion, asdescribed in the section below entitled “CF Code Design”. WZC is anacronym for Wyner-Ziv coding.

The encoder unit 220 may be configured to perform joint source-channelencoding on the block W to obtain encoded data U_(r). The encoder unit220 may be designed as described in the sections below entitled“Distributed Joint Source-Channel Coding (DJSCC) at the Relay” and “CFCode Design”.

In some embodiments, the encoder unit 220 may include one or moreirregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encoders configured to perform jointsource-channel encoding. The encoded data U_(r) may be the parity bitsgenerated by the one or more IRA encoders.

In one embodiment, the encoder unit 220 includes exactly one IRAencoder. In another embodiment, the encoder unit 220 may include aplurality of IRA encoders configured to perform joint source-channelencoding on corresponding bit planes of the block W, as described in thesections below entitled “Distributed Joint Source-Channel Coding (DJSCC)at the Relay” and “CF Code Design”.

The mapping unit 223 may be configured to convert the encoded data U_(r)into a stream X_(r) of points belonging to an N-PSK constellation havingpower constraint value P_(r). For example, in the case of BPSK (i.e.,N=2), the encoded data U_(r) is converted into a stream X_(r) of +A_(r)and −A_(r) values, where A_(r) is the square root of the powerconstraint value P_(r). In the cases where N is greater than two, theN-PSK constellation includes complex values, and thus, the mapping unit112 may include a pair of output lines in order to output the real andimaginary parts of the complex constellation point.

The modulation unit 225 may be configured to generate an output signal,for transmission to a destination system in the second interval, basedon the stream X_(r). The modulation unit 225 may generate the outputsignal by modulating an RF carrier signal using the stream X_(r).Together, the mapping unit 223 and the modulation unit 225 may beconfigured to implement N-PSK modulation.

As noted above, the first interval and second interval may be disjointintervals in time. Alternatively, the first interval and second intervalmay be disjoint bands of frequency.

Relay Encoder Method

In one set of embodiments, method 250 for relaying data from a sourcesystem to a destination system may involve the followingactions/operations, as illustrated in FIG. 2B.

At 255, input data Y_(r) is recovered from an input signal received froma channel in the first interval. The input data Y_(r) corresponds to thestream X_(s1) (of points from an N-PSK constellation having powerconstraint value P_(s1)) transmitted onto the channel by the sourcesystem using N-PSK modulation, where N is greater than one. Thereception process may involve performing N-PSK demodulation on an RFsignal captured from a receive antenna.

At 260, nested lattice quantization (NLQ) is performed on the input dataY_(r) to generate a block W of quantization indices. As noted above, thenested lattice quantization may involve quantization with respect to acoarse lattice and a fine lattice. The coarse lattice may be asublattice of the fine lattice. For more information on how to performthe nested lattice quantization, please refer to the section belowentitled “CF Code Design”.

The Voronoi volume q of the fine lattice may be optimized to minimizethe Wyner-Ziv operational distortion-rate function subject to a rateconstraint. The nesting ratio may be determined as described above.

At 265, joint source-channel encoding is performed on the block W toobtain encoded data U_(r). The joint source-channel encoding may beperformed as described in the sections below entitled “Distributed JointSource-Channel Coding (DJSCC) at the Relay” and “CF Code Design”.

In some embodiments, the joint source-channel encoding may be performedusing one or more irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encoders. Theencoded data U_(r) may be the parity bits generated by the one or moreIRA encoders.

In one embodiment, the joint source-channel encoding may be performedusing exactly one IRA encoder. In another embodiment, the jointsource-channel encoding may be performed using a plurality of IRAencoders to encode corresponding bit planes of the block W, as describedin the sections below entitled “Distributed Joint Source-Channel Coding(DJSCC) at the Relay” and “CF Code Design”.

At 268, the encoded data U_(r) may be converted into a stream X_(r) ofpoints belonging to an N-PSK constellation having power constraint valueP_(r).

At 270, an output signal may be generated, for transmission to adestination system in the second interval, based on the stream X_(r).The output signal may be generated by modulating an RF carrier using thestream X_(r). Together, operations 268 and 270 may implement an N-PSKmodulation.

As noted above, the first interval and second interval may be disjointintervals in time. Alternatively, the first interval and second intervalmay be disjoint bands of frequency.

Destination Decoder System

In one set of embodiments, a decoder system 300 for recovering a messagem based on information received from the source system and informationreceived from the relay system may be configured as illustrated in FIG.3. The decoder system 300 includes a receiver 310, an iterative decoder315, an estimator 320, a maximum ratio combining (MRC) unit 325, achannel decoder 330, an encoder unit 335, a mapping unit 337, a scalingunit 338, a difference unit 339 and a channel decoder 345.

The decoder system 300 may be implemented using dedicated circuitryand/or a set of one or more processors controlled by software (i.e.,program instructions). The system elements of the decoder system 300 maybe partitioned among one or more hardware devices (e.g., integratedcircuits) in any of various ways. The one or more hardware devices mayinclude dedicated circuitry and/or a set of one or more processorscontrolled by software (i.e., program instructions).

The receiver 310 is configured to: recover a stream Y_(d1) of data(e.g., a stream of points in the complex plane) from a first inputsignal in a first interval, and, recover a stream Y_(d2) of data (e.g.,a stream of complex points) from a second input signal in a secondinterval. N is an integer greater than one. The stream Y_(d1) is achannel-modified version of the stream X_(s1) (of points from an N-PSKconstellation having power constraint value P_(s1)) transmitted in thefirst interval by the source system using N-PSK modulation. N is aninteger greater than one.

The stream Y_(d2) is a mixture including (a) a channel-modified versionof the stream X_(s2) transmitted in the second interval by the sourcesystem using N-PSK modulation and (b) a channel-modified version of thestream X_(r) transmitted in the second interval by the relay systemusing N-PSK modulation. Recall that the relay system is configured to:receive stream Y_(r) (which is a channel-modified version of the streamX_(s1) transmitted by the source system); perform nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to obtain index block W; perform jointsource-channel encoding on the index block W to obtain the encoded dataU_(r); and map the encoded data U_(r) to the stream X_(r) of points froman N-PSK constellation having power constraint value P_(r).

The iterative decoder 315 is configured to generate an estimate for theindex block W using the stream Y_(d1) and the stream Y_(d2). Theiterative decoder 315 may be configured to perform joint source-channeldecoding on the stream Y_(d2) using the stream Y_(d1) as sideinformation. For more information on the design of the iterative decoder315, please refer to the section below entitled “CF Code Design”.

In the process of performing the joint source-channel decoding, theiterative decoder 315 may utilize structure information that representsthe structure of the joint source-channel encoder(s) employed by therelay system. This structure information may be stored in the decodersystem 300 and accessed by the iterative decoder 315. In an alternativeembodiment, the iterative decoder 315 may be realized in terms ofdedicated circuitry. In this case, the structure information may bebuilt into the dedicated circuitry.

The estimator 320 is configured to generate an estimate for the streamY_(r) using the estimate for the index W. The estimator 320 may be amaximum mean square error estimator. For more information on the designof the estimator 320, please refer to the section below entitled “CFCode Design”.

The maximum ratio combining (MRC) unit 325 is configured to computeinformation I₁ based on the stream Y_(d1) and the estimate for the dataY_(r). The information I₁ may be log likelihood ratios for a firstportion m₁ of message m given Y_(d1) and Y_(r). For more information onhow to perform the maximum ratio combining, please refer to the sectionbelow entitled “CF Code Design”.

The channel decoder 330 is configured to operate on the information I₁to generate an estimate for message portion m₁. The channel decoder 330may utilize structure information that describes the structure ofchannel encoder 105 of the source system. Alternatively, the channeldecoder 330 may be realized using dedicated circuitry, in which case thestructure information may be built into the dedicated circuitry.

The channel decoder 330 may be an iterative decoder and may be designedas described in the section below entitled “CF Code Design”.

The encoder unit 335 is configured to perform joint source-channelencoding on the estimate of the index block W to obtain an estimate forthe encoded data U_(r). The joint source-channel encoding performed bythe encoder unit 335 may be identical to the joint source-channelencoding performed by the relay system.

The mapping unit 337 is configured to convert the estimate for dataU_(r) into a stream of points from the N-PSK constellation having powerconstraint P_(r) in order to generate an estimate {circumflex over(X)}_(r) for the stream X_(r) generated at the relay system.

The scaling unit 338 is configured to scale the estimate {circumflexover (X)}_(r) by the complex factor c_(rd) to generate the scaled streamc_(rd){circumflex over (X)}_(r). Thus, scaling unit 338 may beconfigured to perform complex multiplication.

The difference unit 339 is configured to subtract the scaled streamc_(rd){circumflex over (X)}_(r) from the stream Y_(d2) in order toobtain a difference stream.

The channel decoder 345 may be configured to operate on the differencestream in order to generate an estimate for message portion m₂. Thechannel decoder 345 may utilize structure information that describes thestructure of channel encoder 110 of the source system. Alternatively,the channel decoder 345 may be realized using dedicated circuitry, inwhich case the structure information may be built into the dedicatedcircuitry.

The channel decoder 345 may be an iterative decoder and may be designedas described in the section below entitled “CF Code Design”.

As noted above, the first interval and second interval may be disjointintervals in time. Alternatively, the first interval and second intervalmay be disjoint bands of frequency.

Destination Decoder Method

In one set of embodiments, a decoder method 350 for recovering a messagem based on information received from the source system and informationreceived from the relay system may be configured as illustrated in FIG.4.

At 355, stream Y_(d1) is recovered from a first input signal in a firstinterval and stream Y_(d2) is recovered from a second input signal in asecond interval. The stream Y_(d1) is a channel-modified version of thestream X_(s1) (of points from an N-PSK constellation having powerconstraint value P_(s1)) transmitted in the first interval by the sourcesystem using N-PSK modulation. N is an integer greater than one.

The stream Y_(d2) is a mixture including (a) a channel-modified versionV_(s) of the stream X_(s2) transmitted in the second interval by thesource system using N-PSK modulation and (b) a channel-modified versionV_(r) of the stream X_(r) transmitted in the second interval by therelay system using N-PSK modulation. Recall that the relay system isconfigured to receive stream Y_(r) (which is a channel-modified versionof the stream X_(s1) transmitted by the source system in the firstinterval), perform nested lattice quantization on the stream Y_(r) toobtain index block W and to perform joint source-channel encoding on theindex block W to obtain the data U_(r), and then, map the data U_(r) tothe stream X_(r) of points from an N-PSK constellation having powerconstraint value P_(r).

At 357, an estimate for the index block W is generated by performingjoint source-channel decoding (in an iterative fashion) on the streamY_(d2) using the stream Y_(d1) as side information. For more informationon the joint source channel decoding, please refer to the section belowentitled “CF Code Design”. The joint source-channel decoding operation357 may rely on structure information that represents the structure ofthe joint source-channel encoder(s) employed by the relay system.

At 360, an estimate for the stream Y_(r) is generated using the estimatefor the index W. The estimate may be generated by performing maximummean square error estimation. For more information on the estimation360, please refer to the section below entitled “CF Code Design”.

At 363, likelihood information I₁ is computed by performing maximumratio combining (MRC) based on the stream Y_(d1) and the estimate forthe data Y_(r). The likelihood information I₁ may be log likelihoodratios for a first portion m₁ of message m given Y_(d1) and Y_(r). Formore information on how to perform the maximum ratio combining, pleaserefer to the section below entitled “CF Relaying with BPSK Modulation”.

At 365, an estimate for message portion m₁ is generated by performingchannel decoding on the information I₁. The channel decoding may utilizestructure information that describes the structure of channel encoder105 of the source system. The channel decoding may be may be aniterative decoding and may operate as described in the section belowentitled “CF Code Design”.

At 368, joint source-channel encoding is performed on the estimate ofthe index block W to obtain an estimate for the encoded data U_(r). Thisjoint source-channel encoding may be identical to the jointsource-channel encoding performed by the relay system.

At 370, the estimate for data U_(r) is converted into a stream{circumflex over (X)}_(r) of points (from the N-PSK constellation)having power constraint P_(r). The stream {circumflex over (X)}_(r) isan estimate for the stream X_(r) generated at the relay system.

At 373, the estimate {circumflex over (X)}_(r) is scaled by the complexfactor c_(rd) in order to generate the scaled stream c_(rd){circumflexover (X)}_(r). This scaling operation involves a complex multiplication.

At 375, the scaled stream c_(rd){circumflex over (X)}_(r) is subtractedfrom the stream Y_(d2) in order to obtain a difference stream.

At 377, an estimate for message portion m₂ is generated by performingchannel decoding on the difference stream. The channel decoding mayutilize structure information that describes the structure of channelencoder 110 of the source system. The channel decoding may be aniterative decoding and may operate as described in the section belowentitled “CF Code Design”.

As noted above, the first interval and second interval may be disjointintervals in time. Alternatively, the first interval and second intervalmay be disjoint bands of frequency.

In one set of embodiments, a method for encoding a message m mayinvolve: performing a first low-density parity check (LPDC) channelencoding on a first portion m₁ of the message m to obtain first encodeddata; performing a second LPDC channel encoding on a second portion m₂of the message m to obtain second encoded data; converting the firstencoded data into a first stream of N-PSK constellation points, where Nis greater than one; converting the second encoded data into a secondstream of N-PSK constellation points; generating a first output signal,for transmission to a relay and a destination in a first interval, basedon the first stream on N-PSK constellation points; generating a secondoutput signal, for transmission to the destination in a second interval,based on the second stream of N-PSK constellation points. The firstinterval and second interval may be disjoint intervals in time.Alternatively, the first interval and second interval may be disjointbands of frequency.

In another set of embodiments, a method for relaying information from asource system to a destination system may involve: receiving an inputsignal from a channel in a first interval; recovering from the inputsignal a stream Y_(r) of data, where the stream Y_(r) corresponds to astream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellation points transmitted onto the channelby a source system using N-PSK modulation, where N is greater than one;performing nested lattice quantization on the stream Y_(r) to generate aquantization value W; performing joint source-channel encoding on thequantization value W to obtain encoded data; converting the encoded datainto a stream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; generating an outputsignal, for transmission to a destination system in a second interval,based on the stream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points. The firstinterval and second interval may be disjoint intervals in time.Alternatively, the first interval and second interval may be disjointbands of frequency.

The Voronoi volume q of a fine lattice (or alternatively, the coarselattice) of the nested lattice quantization may be optimized to minimizea Wyner-Ziv operational distortion-rate function subject to a rateconstraint.

The process of performing joint source-channel encoding may includeperforming an irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encoding on thequantization value W to obtain the encoded data. Alternatively, theprocess of performing joint source-channel encoding may includeperforming a plurality of irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encodings oncorresponding bit planes of the quantization value W to obtain theencoded data.

In yet another set of embodiments, a method for decoding receivedinformation in order to recover a message m may involve: receiving afirst input signal in a first interval and a second input signal in asecond interval; recovering from the first input signal a first streamY_(d1) of data (e.g., complex points) and from the second input signal asecond stream Y_(d2) of data (e.g., complex points), where the firststream Y_(d1) is a first channel-modified version of a stream X_(s1)transmitted in the first interval by a source system using N-PSKmodulation, where N is greater than one, where the second stream Y_(d2)is a mixture including a channel-modified version V_(s) of stream X_(s2)transmitted in the second interval by the source system using N-PSKmodulation and a channel-modified version V_(r) of a stream X_(r)transmitted in the second interval by a relay system using N-PSKmodulation, where the relay system is configured to (a) receive streamY_(r) which is a second channel-modified version of the stream X_(s1)transmitted by the source system, (b) perform nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to obtain index W and (b) perform jointsource-channel encoding on the index W to obtain the stream X_(r);generating an estimate for the index W using the first stream Y_(d1) andthe second stream Y_(d2); generating an estimate for the stream Y_(r)using the estimate for the index W; performing maximum ratio combiningbased on the first stream Y_(d1) and the estimate for the stream Y_(r)in order to obtain likelihood information; performing channel decodingon the likelihood information to generate an estimate for a firstportion m₁ of the message m. The first interval and second interval maybe disjoint intervals in time. Alternatively, the first interval andsecond interval may be disjoint bands of frequency.

The method may also include: performing the joint source-channelencoding on the index estimate to obtain an estimate for the streamX_(r); scaling the estimate for the stream X_(r) to obtain an estimatefor the channel-modified version V_(r); performing channel decoding on adifference between the second stream Y_(d2) and the estimate of theversion V_(r) to generate an estimate for a second portion m₂ of themessage m.

In some embodiments, a computer-readable memory medium may be configuredto store program instructions, where the program instructions areexecutable to implement any of the method embodiments described herein(or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, anysubset of the method embodiments described herein). A memory medium is amedium configured for the storage of information. Examples of memorymedia include various kinds of magnetic media (e.g., magnetic tape,magnetic disk, magnetic strips, and magnetic film); various kinds ofoptical media (e.g., CD-ROM); various kinds of semiconductor RAM andROM; various media based on the storage of electrical charge and/orother physical quantities; etc.

In some embodiments, a computer system may be configured to include aprocessor (or a set of processors) and memory medium. The memory mediummay be configured to store program instructions. The processor (or setof processors) may be configured to read and execute the programinstructions. The program instructions may be executable to implementany of the various method embodiments described herein (or, anycombination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subsetof the method embodiments described herein). The computer system may berealized in any of various forms. For example, the computer system maybe a personal computer (in any of its various forms), a workstation, acomputer on a card, a server computer, a client computer, a computersystem in a sensor device, a computer embedded in a transmitter, acomputer embedded in a relay system, a computer embedded in a receiver,etc.

The Channel Model

A simple three-node relay channel is shown in FIG. 5, where c_(sd),c_(sr), and c_(rd) denote the channel gains/coefficients of the linksfrom the source to destination, source to relay, and relay todestination, respectively. When the channel coefficients are fixed, wehave a Gaussian relay channel. In one set of embodiments, we focus onthe Gaussian relay channel.

In time-division half-duplex relaying, a frame of length n is dividedinto two parts: the first block of length nα (0<α<1), and the secondblock of length n(1−α). The first block forms a codeword x_(s1) to bebroadcasted from the source to both the relay and destination underpower constraint P_(s1). The relay overhears this transmission,processes its received signal y_(r) in some way, and transmits theprocessed version x_(r)=f_(r)(y_(r)) to the destination under powerconstraint P_(r). While the relay transmits, the source simultaneouslytransmits the second block, x_(s2), to the destination under powerconstraint P_(s2). The codeword x_(s2) is not heard by the relay, as itis in the transmit mode. One way to accomplish this is to split themessage m at the source into two non-overlapping parts m₁ and m₂. Then,m₁ is encoded into the nα-length codeword x_(s1)(m₁) as the first blockand m₂ into the n(1−α)-length codeword x_(s2)(m₂) as the second block.At the frame level, the time interval T is divided into therelay-receive period T₁ and the relay-transmit period T₂ with T=T₁+T₂.During the relay-receive period, the received signals at the relay andthe destination arey _(r) [i]=c _(sr) x _(s1)(m ₁)[i]+z _(r) [i],  (1)y _(d1) [i]=c _(sd) x _(s1)(m ₁)[i]+z _(d1) [i], i=1, . . . , nα,  (2)respectively, where z_(r) and z_(d1) are white Gaussian noises with unitpower. During the relay-transmit period, the relay and the source,respectively, send the n(1−α)-length codewords x_(r)(m₁) and x_(s2)(m₂)to the destination, which receivesy _(d2) [i]=c _(rd) x _(r)(m ₁)[i]+c _(sd) x _(s2)(m ₂)[i]+z _(d2) [i],i=1, . . . , n(1−α),  (3)where z_(d2) is again white Gaussian noise with unit power.

The upper bound on the capacity and the achievable rates for CF and DF(decompress-forward (DF) of the relay channel are relatively simple toderive, assuming AWGN channels with Gaussian input (which means that allthe signals to be transmitted, namely, X_(s1), X_(s2) and X_(r), areGaussian), since the capacity for AWGN channel and the WZC limit for thequadratic Gaussian case are well known. Unfortunately, this Gaussianassumption does not hold with BPSK modulation. Instead, we havebinary-input AWGN channels, for which the capacity is

$\begin{matrix}{{C({snr})} = {1 - {\int_{- \infty}^{\infty}{\frac{{\mathbb{e}}^{{- \tau}\frac{2}{2}}}{\sqrt{s\;\pi}}{\log\left( {1 + {\mathbb{e}}^{{{- 2}\sqrt{{snr}\;}\tau} - {2{snr}}}} \right)}\ {{\mathbb{d}\tau}.}}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$snr is the signal to noise ratio.

In one set of embodiments, we assume the setup shown in FIG. 6 for CFrelaying with BPSK modulation (or more generally, N-PSK modulation,where N is greater than one), where the relay is located along astraight line from the source to the destination, which are distance r(e.g., 10 meters) apart. The channel coefficient of the link from senderi to the receiver j (sender i may be the source or relay, and receiver jmay be the relay or destination) is (c_(ij))²=K_(o)(d_(ij))^(−n), whered_(ij) is the distance from the sender i to the receiver j, n is thepath loss coefficient,K _(o)=(c/4πd _(o) f _(c))²,c is the light speed, d_(o) is the free-space reference distance, f_(c)is the transmission frequency. The experimental setup is fixed withf_(c)=2.4 GHz carrier frequency, path loss coefficient n=3, andfreespace reference distance d_(o)=1 m. Therefore the channelcoefficients are: (c_(sd))²=10⁻⁷, (c_(sr))²=10⁻⁴d⁻³, and(c_(rd))²=10⁻⁴(1−d)⁻³. Note that c_(sd) is fixed and c_(sr) and c_(rd)are functions of d. Thus for each particular d, there is a set of thecoefficients.CF Relaying with BPSK Modulation

FIG. 7 depicts the overall CF coding scheme. During T₁, message m₁ ischannel coded and then BPSK modulated into nα binary symbols X_(s1)[1],. . . , X_(s1)[nα] with

${\frac{1}{\alpha\; n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{\alpha\; n}{X_{s\; 1}\lbrack{\mathbb{i}}\rbrack}^{2}}} \leq P_{s\; 1}$and broadcasted to the relay and the destination. The received versionsare Y_(r)=c_(sr)X_(s1)+Z_(r) at the relay, and,Y_(d1)=c_(sd)X_(s1)+Z_(d1) at the destination. We thus have a broadcastchannel in the relay-receive period.

During T₂, Y_(r) is compressed into S using Wyner-Ziv encoder bytreating Y_(d1), at the destination as the decoder side information.Then, the relay encodes S into binary channel codeword X_(r), of length(1−α)n with

${\frac{1}{\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{{({1 - \alpha})}n}{X_{r}\lbrack{\mathbb{i}}\rbrack}^{2}}} \leq P_{r}$and sends it to the destination. At the same time, the source encodes m₂into (1−α)n binary symbols X_(s2)[1], . . . , X_(s2)[(1−α)n] with

${\frac{1}{\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{{({1 - \alpha})}n}{X_{s\; 2}\lbrack{\mathbb{i}}\rbrack}^{2}}} \leq P_{s\; 2}$and sends them to the destination as well. The signal received at thedestination from the source and relay isY_(d2)=c_(rd)X_(r)+c_(sd)X_(s2)+Z_(d2). We hence have a multiple-accesschannel (MAC) in the relay-receive period.

At the destination, m₁ and m₂ may be recovered sequentially. First,Y_(r) is reconstructed into Y_(r)′ via Wyner-Ziv decoding at thedestination (with the help of the side information Y_(d1)), yielding anaverage distortion of D_(WZ)(R), where R is the WZC rate. Note that wecan write Y_(r)′=Y_(r)+N, where N is the quantization noise with itsvariance as the Wyner-Ziv distortion limit D_(WZ)(R), and thecorresponding WZC rate R is the capacity of the link between the relayand the destination (with both c_(sd)X_(s2) and Z_(d) being treated asnoise) and given by

$\begin{matrix}{{R = {\frac{1 - \alpha}{\alpha}{C\left( \frac{{c_{r\; d}}^{2}P_{r}}{1 + {{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 2}}} \right)}}},} & (5)\end{matrix}$where the normalization factor (1−α)/α is due to half-duplex relaying.

With both Y_(r)′=Y_(r)+N=c_(sr)X_(s1)+Z_(r)+N andY_(d1)=c_(sd)X_(s1)+Z_(d1) available at the destination as corruptedversions of X_(s1), we can recover m₁ with the information provided byY_(r)′ and Y_(d1) jointly. The joint log-likelihood-ratio (LLR) is

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{L_{ch}\text{(}m_{1}\left. {y_{r}^{\prime},y_{d\; 1}} \right)} = {\log\left( \frac{f\left( {m_{1} = {0\left. {y_{r}^{\prime},y_{d\; 1}} \right)}} \right.}{f\left( {m_{1} = {1\left. {y_{r}^{\prime},y_{d\; 1}} \right)}} \right.} \right)}} \\{= {\log\left( \frac{f\left( {y_{r}^{\prime},{y_{d\; 1}\left. {m_{1} = 0} \right){P\left( {m_{1} = 0} \right)}}} \right.}{f\left( {y_{r}^{\prime},{y_{d\; 1}\left. {m_{1} = 1} \right){P\left( {m_{1} = 1} \right)}}} \right.} \right)}} \\{= {{{- 2}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}\left( {{\frac{c_{sr}}{1 + {D_{WZ}(R)}}y_{r}^{\prime}} + {c_{sd}y_{d\; 1}}} \right)} +}} \\{\log\frac{P\left( {m_{1} = 0} \right)}{P\left( {m_{1} = 1} \right)}} \\{{= {{{- 2}\overset{\sim}{y}} + {\log\frac{P\left( {m_{1} = 0} \right)}{P\left( {m_{1} = 1} \right)}}}},}\end{matrix} & (6)\end{matrix}$where

$\overset{\sim}{y} = {{\frac{c_{sr}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}}{1 + {D_{WZ}(R)}}y_{r}^{\prime}} + {c_{sd}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}{y_{d\; 1}.}}}$Assume P(m₁=0)=P(m₁=1)=0.5, thenL _(ch)(m ₁ |y _(r) ′,y _(d1))=−2{tilde over (y)}which is the LLR from the AWGN channel with channel output {tilde over(Y)} and unit noise variance. Therefore this LLR is equivalent to theLLR of the combination of y_(d1) and y_(r)′ with the same coefficientsas maximum ratio combining (MRC). (For more information on maximum ratiocombining, please refer to: Andear Goldsmith, Wireless Communications,Cambridge University Press, Aug. 8, 2005, on page 214-216.) Then we candecode m₁ using joint decoding similar to MRC with rate

$\begin{matrix}{{R_{r}(\alpha)} \leq {\alpha\;{{C\left( {{{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}} + \frac{{c_{sr}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}}{1 + {D_{WZ}(R)}}} \right)}.}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

Once m₁ is recovered, X_(r) can be reconstructed and c_(rd)X_(r)eliminated from Y_(d2) c_(rd)X_(r)+c_(sd)X_(s2)+Z_(d2). Then, m₂ can bedecoded with rateR _(d)(α)=(1−α)C(|c _(sd)|² P _(s2)).  (7B)

Consequently, the overall achievable rate of CF for the half-duplexrelay channel with specific α is

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{R_{CF}(\alpha)} = {{R_{r}(\alpha)} + {R_{d}(\alpha)}}} \\{\leq {{\alpha\;{C\left( {{{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}} + \frac{{c_{sr}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}}{1 + {D_{WZ}(R)}}} \right)}} +}} \\{\left( {1 - \alpha} \right){{C\left( {{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 2}} \right)}.}}\end{matrix} & (8)\end{matrix}$Therefore, the bound for the achievable rate with CF can be written as

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{R_{CF} \leq {\max\limits_{0 \leq \alpha \leq 1}{R_{CF}(\alpha)}}} \\{\leq {\max\limits_{0 \leq \alpha \leq 1}\left( {{\alpha\;{C\left( {{{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}} + \frac{{c_{sr}}^{2}P_{s\; 1}}{1 + {D_{WZ}(R)}}} \right)}} +} \right.}} \\{\left. {\left( {1 - \alpha} \right){C\left( {{c_{sd}}^{2}P_{s\; 2}} \right)}} \right).}\end{matrix} & (9)\end{matrix}$

Note that the above achievable rate is given under the transmittingpower constraints P_(s1), P_(s2), and P_(r). We now consider the ratesunder the average power constraints P_(s) and P_(r).

Since the relay only transmits during the relay-transmit period T₂ withblock length n(1−α), the normalized transmitting power at the relay isP_(r)/(1−α). Similarly, the normalized transmitting power at the sourceduring the relay-receive period T₁ and the relay-transmit period T₂ isP_(s1)=kP_(s)/α and P_(s2)=(1−k)P_(s)/(1−α), respectively, where k(0≦k≦1) and α determine the power allocation at the transmitter.

For the relay channel with BPSK modulation, the signals Y_(r) and Y_(d),are given by (1) and (2), and X_(s1) is a BPSK-modulated signal, takingvalues at √{square root over (P_(s1))} and −√{square root over (P_(s1))}with the probabilities p and 1-p, respectively. Z_(r) and Zd are i.i.d.Gaussian noise with zero mean and unit variance. Without loss ofgenerality, we assume p=0.5. BecauseY_(r)

X_(s1)

Y_(d1)forms a Markov chain, the conditional pdf f(y_(r)|y_(d1)) is

$\begin{matrix}{{{f\text{(}y_{r}\left. y_{d\; 1} \right)} = {{\zeta\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\;\pi}}{\exp\left( {- \frac{\left( {y_{r} - {c_{sr}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}}} \right)^{2}}{2}} \right)}} + {\left( {1 - \zeta} \right)\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\;\pi}}{\exp\left( {- \frac{\left( {y_{r} - {c_{sr}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}}} \right)^{2}}{2}} \right)}}}},} & (10)\end{matrix}$where

$\zeta = {\frac{1}{1 + {\exp\left( {{- 2}c_{sd}\sqrt{P_{s\; 1}}y_{d\; 1}} \right)}}.}$

It is seen from (10) that the conditional probability of Y_(r) givenY_(d1) is the weighted superposition (mixture) of two Gaussiandistributions centered at c_(sr)√{square root over (P_(s1))} and−c_(sr)√{square root over (P_(s1))}, respectively, with the identicalunit variance. The weights rely on the likelihood of x_(s1) providingy_(d1). Several examples of f(y_(r)|y_(d1)) with specific values ofy_(d1) at d=9 m. are shown in FIG. 8 to provide an intuitive view.

Distributed Joint Source-Channel Coding (DJSCC) at the Relay

For Slepian-Wolf Coded Nested Quantization (SWC-NQ) as practical WZC forCF relaying, since Slepian Wolf coding (SWC) is implemented by channelcodes, separate source-channel coding at the relay (with sideinformation Y_(d1), at the destination) requires two channel codes: onefor SWC (or source coding) and another for forward error protection (orchannel coding). However, just like Shannon's classic separationprinciple, the separation principle for the noisy channel SWC/WZCproblem only holds asymptotically (i.e., with infinite code length). Inpractical designs with finite code length, joint source-channel codingwith side information (or DJSCC) should outperform a separate design.

The basic idea of DJSCC is to use one channel code for both Slepian-Wolfcompression and forward error protection. This is possible because a) inaddition to the optimal syndrome-based approach for SWC, parity bits ofa systematic channel code can also be used for SWC, and b) if the numberof parity bits exceeds the Slepian-Wolf limit, the added redundancy canbe exploited for protection. In the following, we briefly explain theso-called parity-based approach for SWC before moving on to parity-basedDJSCC.

The parity-based SWC scheme for binary i.i.d. sources employs an (n+r,n) linear systematic channel code. To compress an n-bit vector from thesource X, the encoder outputs r parity bits of the underlying systematicchannel code as its compressed version, meaning r≦n. In addition,r≧nH(X|Y) by the Slepian-Wolf theorem. (For information on theSlepian-Wolf theorem, please refer to D. Slepian and J. Wolf, “Noiselesscoding of correlated information sources,” IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory,vol. 19, pp. 471-480, July 1973.) Thus the rate n/(n+r) of the employedsystematic channel code must be no greater than 1/(1+H(X|Y)), which isno less than ½. The decoder concatenates the r parity bits and thecorresponding n side information bits from Y to form the received(n+r)-bit codeword before attempting to reconstruct its original n-bitsystematic part as the decoded source vector.

When r=n−k, the (2n−k, n) systematic channel code in the aboveparity-based SWC scheme can be designed to give the same performance asthe syndrome-based SWC scheme, which outputs n−k syndrome bits of an (n,k) binary channel code for the “virtual” correlation channel between thetwo correlated sources X and Y. The syndrome-based approach is optimalin the sense that if the (n, k) binary channel code approaches thecapacity of the “virtual” correlation channel, it also provideslimit-approaching performance in SWC.

Although a longer (2n−k, n) code is needed in the parity-based approachto obtain the same SWC performance as an (n, k) code in thesyndrome-based approach—the reason why the latter is preferred for SWC,the advantage of the former lies in the ease with its generalization toDJSCC. On the other hand, it is not clear if the latter can be extendedto DJSCC. This is because in contrast to parity bits, syndrome bitscannot provide error protection.

Under the same encoding/decoding structure that employs an (n+r, n)linear systematic channel code for parity-based SWC, the extension toparity-based DJSCC involves two steps. First, because the r parity bitsgenerated by the encoder now provides joint Slepian-Wolf compression anderror protection, r is not upper bounded by n any more. In addition,r≧nH(X|Y)/C. Since the capacity C≦1, the encoder generally outputs moreparity bits than the Slepian-Wolf limit. It is this added redundancythat provides error protection. Second, because we are using one channelcode in DJSCC to do two jobs (SWC and error protection), the code designnow involves two channels: one is the “virtual” correlation channelbetween the correlated sources; another is the physical noisy channelthrough which the parity bits are transmitted. Finding the right classof linear systematic code whose design process can readily accommodatetwo such channels is the starting point of DJSCC.

Liveris et al. (Liveris, Xiong, and Georghiades, “Joint source-channelcoding of binary sources with side information at the decoder using IRAcodes”, in Proc. MMSP-2002, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, December2002) employ systematic IRA codes for DJSCC of binary source X withdecoder side information Y. The basic idea of Liveris et al. is depictedin FIG. 9, where the distributed joint source-channel (DJSC) encoderonly generates IRA parity bits for transmission over the noisy channel,and the already existing side information Y at the decoder is viewed asa “noisy” version of the source X (or systematic part); the IRA/DJSCdecoder combines Y and the received noisy parity bits to reconstruct{circumflex over (X)}.

IRA codes (introduced in Jin, Khandekar and McEliece, “Irregularrepeat-accumulate codes,” in Proc. 2nd Int. Symp. Turbo codes andrelated topics, September 2000) can perform close to capacity on thebinary-input AWGN channel. In addition, systematic IRA codes have theadvantages of both LDPC codes (with iterative decoding) and turbo codes(with linear-time encoding). They are well suited for DJSCC because theycan be designed using Gaussian approximation to take into account thetwo different channels.

CF Code Design

A. Quantizer Design

Nested scalar quantizer design for Y_(r), targets at finding the optimalnesting ratio N and scalar quantization stepsize q to minimize thedistortion while subjecting to the rate constraint

$\begin{matrix}{{R \leq {\frac{1 - \alpha}{\alpha}C_{r\; d}}},} & (36)\end{matrix}$where the rate R=H(W|Y_(d1)) due to Slepian-Wolf coding of the nestedquantization index W and c_(rd) is the capacity of the channel betweenthe relay and the destination with BPSK modulation. Due to BPSKmodulation, NSQ has to operate at the low rate. We hence resort tosimulations to generate the operational distortion-rate function {tildeover (D)}_(WZ)(R) of SWC-NSQ by varying N and q. Based on {tilde over(D)}_(WZ)(R), the operational point at R that is slightly less than thetarget rate (1−α)/(αC_(rd)) is picked and its corresponding N and qidentified as the optimal parameters for NSQ.

We draw L (e.g., 10⁵) samples of Y_(r)′ and Y_(d1)′ offline (here we useY_(r)′ and Y_(d1)′ to distinguish them from Y_(r) and Y_(d1) becauseY_(d1) is not available at the relay) according to the jointdistribution of Y_(r) and Y_(d1), quantize Y_(r)′ into W′, decode Ŷ_(r)′jointly from W′ and Y_(d1)′, and compute the corresponding rateR′=H(W′|Y_(d1)′) and distortion

${D_{WZ}^{\prime}\left( R^{\prime} \right)} = {\frac{1}{L}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{L}{{{Y_{r}^{i}\lbrack i\rbrack} - {{\hat{Y}}_{r}^{i}\lbrack i\rbrack}}}^{2}}}$with different N and q. For|c _(sr)|²=1,|c _(sd)|²=0.5,and P_(s1)=10, FIG. 10 shows the distortion-rate curves for severaldifferent nesting ratios N, where each curve is generated by varying qwhile fixing N. The lower envelope of these curves is the operationaldistortion-rate function {tilde over (D)}_(WZ)(R) of SWC-NSQ, which is1.5 dB away from the upper bound D_(WZ) ^(add)(R) at high rate.

When reconstructing W′ into Ŷ_(r)′, non-linear estimation may be appliedto reduce the distortion, especially at low rate. Denote J(W′) as theindex of W′, 0<J<N−1, then the Ŷ_(r)′ is reconstructed into

$\begin{matrix}{{{\hat{Y}}_{r}^{\prime} = \frac{\sum\limits_{k}{\int_{{({{kN} + {J{(W^{\prime})}}})}q}^{{({{kN} + {J{(W^{\prime})}} + 1})}q}{y_{r}{f\left( {y_{r}\text{|}y_{d\; 1}} \right)}{\mathbb{d}y_{r}}}}}{\sum\limits_{k}{\int_{{({{kN} + {J{(W^{\prime})}}})}q}^{{({{kN} + {J{(W^{\prime})}} + 1})}q}{{f\left( {y_{r}\text{|}y_{d\; 1}} \right)}{\mathbb{d}y_{r}}}}}},} & (37)\end{matrix}$where f(y_(r)|y_(d1)) is given by (10). For more information regardingnon-linear estimation, please refer to: (a) Liu et al., “Slepian-Wolfcoded nested quantization for Wyner-Ziv coding: High-rate performanceanalysis and code design”, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol. 52, October2006, and (b) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/086,778, filed on Mar.22, 2005, entitled “Data Encoding and Decoding Using Slepian-Wolf CodedNested Quantization to Achieve Wyner-Ziv Coding”, invented by Liu,Cheng, Liveris and Xiong which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.B. DJSCC Based on IRA Codes

When the nesting ratio N=2 in NSQ, using a binary systematic (n, nα) IRAcode of rate α, we apply parity-based DJSCC at the relay and encode thebinary quantization index W (of length nα) into parity bits X_(r) oflength n(1−α) for transmission to the destination. The destinationreceives Y_(d2)=c_(rd)X_(r)+c_(sd)X_(s2)+Z_(d) where c_(sd)X_(s2)+Z_(d)is treated as the additive noise. Meanwhile, the side information Y_(d1)at the destination plays the role of the “noisy” systematic part of theIRA codeword. Then W is decoded from [Y_(d1),Y_(d2)] by the IRA/DJSCdecoder, resulting in Ŵ. Since in the optimal NSQ design, we pick itsrate such that

$\begin{matrix}{{R = {{H\left( {W\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \right)} < {\frac{1 - \alpha}{\alpha}C_{rd}}}},} & (38)\end{matrix}$we have

$\begin{matrix}{{{n\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)} > \frac{n\;\alpha\;{H\left( {W\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \right)}}{C_{rd}}},} & (39)\end{matrix}$in DJSCC, which fulfills the requirement for successful decoding of W.

When N>2 in NSQ, we employ a multi-level systematic IRA code for DJSCC,where each of the ┌log N┐ levels is used for one bit plane of W. DenoteJ (0≦J≦N−1) as the index of W and write J asB_(┌logN┐), . . . , B₁in its binary representation, where B₁ is the least significant bit of Wand B_(┌logN┐) its most significant bit. The first-level binarysystematic (nα+r₁, nα) IRA code with

$\begin{matrix}{r_{1} > \frac{n\;\alpha\;{H\left( {B_{1}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \right)}}{C_{rd}}} & (40)\end{matrix}$outputs r₁ parity bits after DJSCC of B₁, and the j-th level (2≦j≦┌logN┐) binary systematic (nα+r_(j), nα) IRA code with

$\begin{matrix}{r_{j} > \frac{n\;\alpha\;{H\left( {{B_{j}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}},B_{j - 1},\ldots\mspace{14mu},B_{1}} \right)}}{C_{rd}}} & (41)\end{matrix}$outputs r_(j) parity bits after DJSCC of B_(j). In addition, the r_(j)'sare chosen so that

$\begin{matrix}{{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{\lbrack{\log\; N}\rbrack}r_{j}} = {{n\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)}.}} & (42)\end{matrix}$By the chain rule,

$\begin{matrix}{{{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{\lbrack{\log\; N}\rbrack}{H\left( {{B_{j}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}},B_{j - 1},\ldots\mspace{11mu},B_{1}} \right)}} = {H\left( {W\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \right)}},} & (43)\end{matrix}$then (40)-(43) lead to

$\begin{matrix}{{{n\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)} = {{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{\lbrack{\log\; N}\rbrack}r_{j}} > \frac{n\;\alpha\;{H\left( {W\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \right)}}{C_{rd}}}},} & (44)\end{matrix}$which is again guaranteed by our choice of rate in (38) for NSQ.

RATE COMPUTATION FOR EACH BIT PLANE: From (40) and (41), we see thatknowing the “sum-rate” H(W|Y_(d1)) after NSQ is not enough formulti-level IRA code design in DJSCC, the conditional entropy of eachbit plane of W is also needed. We start from estimateP _(r)(B ₁ =b ₁ , . . . , B _(j) =b _(j) |Y _(d1) =y _(d1)),where b₁, . . . , b_(j), y_(d1), are specific realizations of B₁, . . ., B_(j), Y_(d1), respectively. Since B_(j) is determined by Y_(r), wedenote B_(j)=b_(j)(Y_(r)) as a function of Y_(r). Therefore we have

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{P_{r}\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j} = {{b_{j}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} = y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)} \\{= {\int_{{{b_{1}{(y_{r})}} = b_{1}},\ldots\;,{{b_{j}{(y_{r})}} = b_{j}}}{{f\left( {y_{r}\text{|}y_{d\; 1}} \right)}{{\mathbb{d}y_{r}}.}}}}\end{matrix}\quad} & (45)\end{matrix}$

When NSQ is applied for quantization, the integration region{y _(r) |b ₁(y _(r))=b ₁ , . . . , b _(j)(y _(r))=b _(j)}is a union of an infinite number of disjoint intervals, and (45) can becalculated analytically using the erfc function. Since f(y_(r)|y_(d1))decays exponentially from the origin, the sum up of a few Gaussian tailprobabilities could be a good approximation of (45).

For the general quantization such as non-uniform quantization orhigh-dimensional quantization, however,P _(r)(B ₁ =b ₁ , . . . , B _(j) =b _(j) |Y _(d1) =y _(d1))cannot be calculated analytically. Instead, we use Monte Carlosimulations. At first, the real axis is divided into M intervals,partitioning all possible Y_(d1) into M regions

_(m) for m=1, . . . , M. Denote

(y_(d1)) as the region containing y_(d1), and define I(*) as theindicator function taking value one if its argument is true, or zerootherwise. We then calculate P_(r)(B₁=b₁, . . . ,B_(j)=b_(j)|Y_(d1)=y_(d1)) offline again by relying on the same Lsamples of (Y_(r)′, Y_(d1)′) we collect during the optimal NSQ designthat results in

$\begin{matrix}{\quad\begin{matrix}{P_{r}\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j} = {{b_{j}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} = y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)} \\{\approx {P_{r}\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j} = {b_{j}\left. {Y_{d\; 1} \in {{??}\left( y_{d\; 1} \right)}} \right)}}} \right.}} \\{\approx {\frac{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{L}{I\left( {{{Y_{d\; 1}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \in {{??}\left( y_{d\; 1} \right)}},{{b_{1}\left( {Y_{r}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \right)} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{{b_{j}\left( {Y_{r}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \right)} = b_{j}}} \right)}}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{L}{I\left( {{Y_{d\; 1}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \in {{??}\left( y_{d\; 1} \right)}} \right)}}.}}\end{matrix}} & (46)\end{matrix}$

Based on (46), the j-th level (1≦j≦┌log N┐) binary systematic (nα+r_(j),nα) IRA code can be designed with

$\begin{matrix}{{r_{j} > {\frac{n\;\alpha}{C_{rd}}{H\left( {{B_{j}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}},B_{j - 1},\ldots\mspace{14mu},B_{1}} \right)}}} = {{\frac{n\;\alpha}{C_{rd}}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{M}{\sum\limits_{\substack{{b_{1} \in {\{{0,1}\}}},\ldots\;, \\ b_{j - i} \in {\{{0,1}\}}}}{{P_{r}\left( {{Y_{d\; 1} \in {??}_{m}},{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} = b_{j - 1}}} \right)}{\mathcal{H}\left( {P_{r}\left( {{B_{j} = {{1\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \in Y_{m}}},{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} = b_{j - 1}}} \right)} \right)}}}}} = {\frac{n\;\alpha}{C_{rd}}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{M}{\sum\limits_{\substack{{b_{1} \in {\{{0,1}\}}},\ldots\;, \\ b_{j - i} \in {\{{0,1}\}}}}{{P_{r}\left( {{Y_{d\; 1} \in {??}_{m}},{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} = b_{j - 1}}} \right)}{\mathcal{H}\left( \frac{P_{r}\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j} = {{1\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \in {??}_{m}}}} \right)}{P_{r}\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} = {{b_{j - 1}\text{|}Y_{d\; 1}} \in {??}_{m}}}} \right)} \right)}}}}}}} & (47)\end{matrix}$whereP _(r)(B ₁ =b ₁ , . . . , B _(j)=1|Y _(d1)ε

_(m))andP _(r)(Y _(d1)ε

_(m) ,B ₁ =b ₁ , . . . , B _(j-1) =b _(j-1))are obtained directly from (46),

${{\mathcal{H}(p)} = {{p\;\log\;\frac{1}{p}} + {\left( {1 - p} \right)\log\;\frac{1}{1 - p}}}},{and}$P_(r)(Y_(d 1) ∈ ??_(m), B₁ = b₁, …  , B_(j − 1) = b_(j − 1))is estimated by using similar Monte Carlo simulations as (46) with

$\quad\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{P_{r}\left( {{Y_{d\; 1} \in {??}_{m}},{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} = b_{j - 1}}} \right)} \\{= {\frac{1}{L}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{L}{I\left( {{{Y_{d\; 1}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \in {??}_{m}},{b_{1}\left( {Y_{r}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \right)}} \right.}}}} \\{\left. {{= b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{{b_{j}\left( {Y_{r}^{\prime}\lbrack i\rbrack} \right)} = b_{j}}} \right).}\end{matrix} & (48)\end{matrix}$

SOFT THRESHOLD DECODING: In the iterative decoding procedure at the j-thbit plane, the information about the j-th bit from the channel isexpressed in term of the log-likelihood-ratio, as follows,

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{{L_{ch}^{(j)}\left( {{y_{d\; 1}\text{|}b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},b_{j - 1}} \right)} = {\log\;\frac{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {y_{d\; 1},{B_{1} = b_{1}},{B_{2} = b_{2}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},} \right.} \\\left. {B_{j - 1} = {{b_{j - 1}\text{|}B_{j}} = 1}} \right)\end{matrix}}{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {y_{d\; 1},{B_{1} = b_{1}},{b_{2} = b_{2}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},} \right.} \\\left. {B_{j - 1} = {{b_{j - 1}\text{|}B_{j}} = 0}} \right)\end{matrix}}}} \\{= {\log\;\frac{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} =}} \right.} \\{\left. {b_{j - 1},{B_{j} = {1\text{|}y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)/{P\left( {B_{j} = 1} \right)}}\end{matrix}}{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} =}} \right.} \\{\left. {b_{j - 1},{B_{j} = {0\text{|}y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)/{P\left( {B_{j} = 0} \right)}}\end{matrix}}}} \\{= {{\log\;\frac{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} =}} \right.} \\\left. {b_{j - 1},{B_{j} = {1\text{|}y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)\end{matrix}}{\begin{matrix}{P\left( {{B_{1} = b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{B_{j - 1} =}} \right.} \\\left. {b_{j - 1},{B_{j} = {0\text{|}y_{d\; 1}}}} \right)\end{matrix}}} -}} \\{\log\;\frac{P\left( {B_{j} = 1} \right)}{P\left( {B_{j} = 0} \right)}} \\{\overset{\Delta}{=}{{{\overset{\sim}{L}}_{ch}^{(j)}\left( {{y_{d\; 1}\text{|}b_{1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},b_{j - 1}} \right)} + {{L_{ext}\left( B_{j} \right)}.}}}\end{matrix}\quad} & (49)\end{matrix}$where b₁, . . . , b_(j-1) are the specific realizations of the bits B₁,. . . , B_(j-1), L_(ch) ^((j))(y_(d1)|b₁, . . . , b_(j-1)) characterizesthe information about the j-th bit plane given previously decoded bitsb₁, . . . , b_(j-1), and it is a function of y_(d1).{tilde over (L)}_(ch) ^((j))(y_(d1)|b₁, . . . , b_(j-1))denotes the information about the j-th bit from the “virtual” channel,and L_(ext)(B_(j)) denotes the information provided by the distributionof the j-th bit itself. For NSQ, due to the symmetric property off(y_(r)|y_(d1)) as shown in (10) and FIG. 8, P(B_(j)=0)=P(B_(j)=1)=0.5,thus L_(ext)(B_(j))=0, andL _(ch) ^((j))(y _(d1) |b ₁ , . . . , b _(j-1))={tilde over (L)} _(ch)^((j))(y _(d1) |b ₁ , . . . , b _(j-1)).

The conditional probabilities of each quantization index given the sideinformation Y_(d1) when d=8 m, and the corresponding L_(ch) ^((j)) forthe same d, are shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, respectively.

C. LDPC Code Design

LDPC codes are linear codes obtained from sparse bipartite graphs.Suppose that G is a graph with n left nodes (called message nodes) and rright nodes (called check nodes). The graph gives rise to a linear codeof block length n and dimension at least n-r in the following way: The ncoordinates of the codewords are associated with the n message nodes.The codewords are those vectors (c1, . . . , cn) such that for all checknodes the sum of the neighboring positions among the message nodes iszero.

LDPC decoding is an iterative decoding procedure based on beliefpropagation, which is a special case of message passing algorithms. Ateach round of the algorithms messages are passed from message nodes tocheck nodes, and from check nodes back to message nodes. In beliefpropagation, the messages passed along the edges are probabilities, orbeliefs. More precisely, the message passed from a message node v to acheck node c is the probability that v has a certain value given theobserved value of that message node, and all the values communicated tov in the prior round from check nodes incident to v other than c. On theother hand, the message passed from c to v is the probability that v hasa certain value given all the messages passed to c in the previous roundfrom message nodes other than v.

The messages/belief transmitted along the edges are random variables,therefore their probability density function is studied. The densityfunction is updated for each circle of message passing from the messagenode v to check node c and then back to v. This recursion is calleddensity evolution. Density evolution can be used to obtain asymptoticthresholds below which belief propagation decodes the code successfully,and above which belief propagation does not decode successfully.Therefore, according to the density evolution algorithm, we can optimizethe density function (and therefore, the profile of the LDPC code) toget the optimal performance.

In some embodiments, the pdf's used in decoding are stored in look-uptables at nodes in the destination system.

In some embodiments, the target transmission rate is set at 0.5 bit perchannel use and the average relay power P_(r)=70 dB.

In some embodiments, the DJSCC rate for each bit plane and the softinformation for iterative decoding are collected off-line according to(47) and (49). The rates and IRA code profiles for each bit plane usingNSQ for quantization when d=7 m and d=9 m are listed in FIGS. 12A and12B, with nesting ration N=4 for both cases.

In some embodiments, for coding two parts of the message, m₁ and m₂, weemploy two different LDPC codes designed via density evolution.

1. A method comprising: receiving, at a relay system, an input radiofrequency (RF) signal from a channel in a first interval; recovering,using the relay system, from the input signal a stream Y_(r) of N-PSKconstellation points, wherein N is greater than one, wherein the streamY_(r) corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellation pointstransmitted onto the channel by a source system using N-PSK modulation;performing, using the relay system, nested lattice quantization on thestream Y_(r) to generate a quantization value W; performing, using therelay system, joint source-channel encoding on the quantization value Wto obtain encoded data, wherein a channel code is used for bothcompression and forward error protection; converting, using the relaysystem, the encoded data into a stream X_(r) of N-PSK constellationpoints; generating, using the relay system, an output signal, fortransmission to a destination system in a second interval, based on thestream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first interval and second interval are disjoint intervals intime.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first interval and secondinterval are disjoint bands of frequency.
 4. A method comprising:receiving an input signal from a channel in a first interval; recoveringfrom the input signal a stream Y_(r) of N-PSK constellation points,wherein N is greater than one, wherein the stream Y_(r) corresponds to astream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellation points transmitted onto the channelby a source system using N-PSK modulation; performing nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to generate a quantization value W;performing joint source-channel encoding on the quantization value W toobtain encoded data; converting the encoded data into a stream X_(r) ofN-PSK constellation points; generating an output signal, fortransmission to a destination system in a second interval, based on thestream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; wherein a Voronoi volume qof a fine lattice of the nested lattice quantization is optimized tominimize a Wyner-Ziv operational distortion-rate function subject to arate constraint.
 5. A method comprising: receiving an input signal froma channel in a first interval; recovering from the input signal a streamY_(r) of N-PSK constellation points, wherein N is greater than one,wherein the stream Y_(r) corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSKconstellation points transmitted onto the channel by a source systemusing N-PSK modulation; performing nested lattice quantization on thestream Y_(r) to generate a quantization value W; performing jointsource-channel encoding on the quantization value W to obtain encodeddata; converting the encoded data into a stream X_(r) of N-PSKconstellation points; generating an output signal, for transmission to adestination system in a second interval, based on the stream X_(r) ofN-PSK constellation points; wherein said performing joint source-channelencoding includes performing an irregular repeat accumulate (IRA)encoding on the quantization value W to obtain the encoded data.
 6. Amethod comprising: receiving an input signal from a channel in a firstinterval; recovering from the input signal a stream Y_(r) of N-PSKconstellation points, wherein N is greater than one, wherein the streamY_(r) corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellation pointstransmitted onto the channel by a source system using N-PSK modulation;performing nested lattice quantization on the stream Y_(r) to generate aquantization value W; performing joint source-channel encoding on thequantization value W to obtain encoded data; converting the encoded datainto a stream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; generating an outputsignal, for transmission to a destination system in a second interval,based on the stream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; wherein saidperforming joint source-channel encoding includes performing a pluralityof irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encodings on corresponding bitplanes of the quantization value W to obtain the encoded data.
 7. Amethod for decoding received information in order to recover a messagem, the system comprising: receiving a first input signal in a firstinterval and a second input signal in a second interval; recovering fromthe first input signal a first stream Y_(d1) of data and from the secondinput signal a second stream Y_(d2) of data, wherein the first streamY_(d1) is a first channel-modified version of a stream X_(s1)transmitted in the first interval by a source system using N-PSKmodulation, wherein N is greater than one, wherein the second streamY_(d2) is a mixture including a channel-modified version V_(s) of streamX_(s2) transmitted in the second interval by the source system usingsaid N-PSK modulation and a channel-modified version V_(r) of a streamX_(r) transmitted in the second interval by a relay system using saidN-PSK modulation, wherein the relay system is configured to (a) receivestream Y_(r) which is a second channel-modified version of the streamX_(s1) transmitted by the source system, (b) perform nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to obtain index W and (b) perform jointsource-channel encoding on the index W to obtain the stream X_(r);generating an estimate for the index W using the first stream Y_(d1) andthe second stream Y_(d2); generating an estimate for the stream Y_(r)using the estimate for the index W; performing maximum ratio combiningbased on the first stream Y_(d1) and the estimate for the stream Y_(r)in order to obtain likelihood information; performing channel decodingon the likelihood information to generate an estimate for a firstportion m₁ of the message m.
 8. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising: performing said joint source-channel encoding on the indexestimate to obtain an estimate for the stream X_(r); scaling theestimate for the stream X_(r) to obtain an estimate for thechannel-modified version V_(r); performing channel decoding on adifference between the second stream Y_(d2) and the estimate of theversion V_(r) to generate an estimate for a second portion m₂ of themessage m.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first interval andsecond interval are disjoint intervals in time.
 10. The method of claim7, wherein the first interval and second interval are disjoint bands offrequency.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the iterative decoder isconfigured to reverse an effect of said joint source-channel encoding ofthe relay system.
 12. A computer system comprising: a memory mediumconfigured to store program instructions; a processor configured toaccess the program instructions from the memory medium and execute theprogram instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable toimplement: receiving an input signal from a channel in a first interval,wherein the input signal corresponds to an RF signal; recovering fromthe input signal a stream Y_(r) of data, wherein the stream Y_(r)corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellation points transmittedonto the channel by a source system using N-PSK modulation, wherein N isgreater than one; performing nested lattice quantization on the streamY_(r) to generate a quantization value W; performing jointsource-channel encoding on the quantization value W to obtain encodeddata, wherein a channel code is used for both compression and forwarderror protection; converting the encoded data into a stream X_(r) ofN-PSK constellation points; generating an output signal, fortransmission to a destination system in a second interval, based on thestream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points.
 13. The computer system ofclaim 12, wherein the first interval and second interval are disjointintervals in time.
 14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein thefirst interval and second interval are disjoint bands of frequency. 15.A computer system comprising: a memory medium configured to storeprogram instructions; a processor configured to access the programinstructions from the memory medium and execute the programinstructions, wherein the program instructions are executable toimplement: receiving an input signal from a channel in a first interval;recovering from the input signal a stream Y_(r) of data, wherein thestream Y_(r) corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellationpoints transmitted onto the channel by a source system using N-PSKmodulation, wherein N is greater than one; performing nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to generate a quantization value W;performing joint source-channel encoding on the quantization value W toobtain encoded data; converting the encoded data into a stream X_(r) ofN-PSK constellation points; generating an output signal, fortransmission to a destination system in a second interval, based on thestream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; wherein said performingjoint source-channel encoding includes performing a plurality ofirregular repeat accumulate (IRA) encodings on corresponding bit planesof the quantization value W to obtain the encoded data.
 16. Acomputer-readable memory medium configured to stored programinstructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by adevice to implement: receiving an input signal from a channel in a firstinterval, wherein the input signal corresponds to an RF signal;recovering from the input signal a stream Y_(r) of data, wherein thestream Y_(r) corresponds to a stream X_(s1) of N-PSK constellationpoints transmitted onto the channel by a source system using N-PSKmodulation, wherein N is greater than one; performing nested latticequantization on the stream Y_(r) to generate a quantization value W;performing joint source-channel encoding on the quantization value W toobtain encoded data, wherein a channel code is used for both compressionand forward error protection; converting the encoded data into a streamX_(r) of N-PSK constellation points; generating an output signal, fortransmission to a destination system in a second interval, based on thestream X_(r) of N-PSK constellation points.
 17. The memory medium ofclaim 16, wherein the first interval and second interval are disjointintervals in time.
 18. The memory medium of claim 16, wherein the firstinterval and second interval are disjoint bands of frequency.
 19. Acomputer system comprising: a memory medium configured to store programinstructions; a processor configured to access the program instructionsfrom the memory medium and execute the program instructions, wherein theprogram instructions are executable to implement: receiving a firstinput signal in a first interval and a second input signal in a secondinterval; recovering from the first input signal a first stream Y_(d1)of data and from the second input signal a second stream Y_(d2) of data,wherein the first stream Y_(d1) is a first channel-modified version of astream X_(s1) transmitted in the first interval by a source system usingN-PSK modulation, wherein N is greater than one, wherein the secondstream Y_(d2) is a mixture including a channel-modified version v_(s) ofstream X_(s2) transmitted in the second interval by the source systemusing said N-PSK modulation and a channel-modified version V_(r) of astream X_(r) transmitted in the second interval by a relay system usingsaid N-PSK modulation, wherein the relay system is configured to (a)receive stream Y_(r) which is a second channel-modified version of thestream X_(s1) transmitted by the source system, (b) perform nestedlattice quantization on the stream Y_(r) to obtain index W and (b)perform joint source-channel encoding on the index W to obtain thestream X_(r); generating an estimate for the index W using the firststream Y_(d1) and the second stream Y_(d2); generating an estimate forthe stream Y_(r) using the estimate for the index W; performing maximumratio combining based on the first stream Y_(d1) and the estimate forthe stream Y_(r) in order to obtain likelihood information; performingchannel decoding on the likelihood information to generate an estimatefor a first portion m₁ of the message m.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:performing said joint source-channel encoding on the index estimate toobtain an estimate for the stream X_(r); scaling the estimate for thestream X_(r) to obtain an estimate for the channel-modified versionV_(r); performing channel decoding on a difference between the secondstream Y_(d2) and the estimate of the version y_(r) to generate anestimate for a second portion m₂ of the message m.
 21. The system ofclaim 19, wherein the first interval and second interval are disjointintervals in time or frequency.
 22. A computer-readable memory mediumconfigured to stored program instructions, wherein the programinstructions are executable by a device to implement: receiving a firstinput signal in a first interval and a second input signal in a secondinterval; recovering from the first input signal a first stream Y_(d1)of data and from the second input signal a second stream Y_(d2) of data,wherein the first stream Y_(d1) is a first channel-modified version of astream X_(s1) transmitted in the first interval by a source system usingN-PSK modulation, wherein N is greater than one, wherein the secondstream Y_(d2) is a mixture including a channel-modified version V_(s) ofstream X_(s2) transmitted in the second interval by the source systemusing said N-PSK modulation and a channel-modified version V_(r) of astream X_(r) transmitted in the second interval by a relay system usingsaid N-PSK modulation, wherein the relay system is configured to (a)receive stream Y_(r) which is a second channel-modified version of thestream X_(s1) transmitted by the source system, (b) perform nestedlattice quantization on the stream Y_(r) to obtain index W and (b)perform joint source-channel encoding on the index W to obtain thestream X_(r); generating an estimate for the index W using the firststream Y_(d1) and the second stream Y_(d2); generating an estimate forthe stream Y_(r) using the estimate for the index W; performing maximumratio combining based on the first stream Y_(d1) and the estimate forthe stream Y_(r) in order to obtain likelihood information; performingchannel decoding on the likelihood information to generate an estimatefor a first portion m₁ of the message m.
 23. The memory medium of claim22, wherein the program instructions are further executable toimplement: performing said joint source-channel encoding on the indexestimate to obtain an estimate for the stream X_(r); scaling theestimate for the stream X_(r) to obtain an estimate for thechannel-modified version V_(r); performing channel decoding on adifference between the second stream Y_(d2) and the estimate of theversion V_(r) to generate an estimate for a second portion m₂ of themessage m.
 24. The memory medium of claim 22, wherein the first intervaland second interval are disjoint intervals in time or frequency.